[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 109 (Thursday, July 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5015-H5016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DECISION TO STOP DEPORTATIONS FOR DREAM 
                        ACT-ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to announce today that 
more than 100 of my colleagues have joined me in writing to President 
Obama to thank him for his action to use prosecutorial discretion to 
stop deportations for DREAM Act-eligible immigrants.
  We are pledging our continued and strong support for this policy. My 
colleagues and I, 104 of us, are standing together to make clear that 
we think America is a better place with the immigrants who will be 
helped by this new policy.
  Of course, not everyone agrees. Progress doesn't always mean 
consensus. My colleague, Mr. King of Iowa, wants to sue the President, 
take him to court, because Mr. King is determined to deport every last 
young person who is DREAM Act eligible. Mitt Romney says that he would 
veto the DREAM Act and does not support steps to protect these very 
young people.
  Let's remind ourselves exactly who the Republican candidate for 
President believes should be deported.
  DREAM Act-eligible young people who have lived in America for more 
than 5 years. Most of them were brought to our Nation as children, many 
of them as infants, toddlers, yes, babies. They've stayed away from 
crime. They attended our high schools and colleges. They are no 
different from your children or my children. They regularly excel at 
school. Some are valedictorians. They are athletes and musicians and 
leaders. Many of them want to serve our Nation in the military. They 
are leaders in their high school ROTC. They are, in every sense of the 
word, except for the very narrow, exclusive sense promoted by Mr. King 
and Mr. Romney, outstanding young Americans.
  Apparently, when Mr. King and Mr. Romney look at the winner of your 
high school science fair or a young immigrant eager to become a 
soldier, they see a threat to our national security.
  Sensible Americans see their friends and neighbors, young people who 
want to make America better. They want these young people to be treated 
fairly, and they also want our Nation to be safe.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I would ask Mr. King and Mr. Romney a question: In a 
world where our law enforcement officials have limited time and 
resources, who should they be focused on investigating, detaining, 
putting behind bars, rounding up, and deporting--the captain of your 
high school chess team or a drug smuggler?
  I know the answer. I think most of Americans would agree. Immigrants 
who break the law should face serious consequences. Immigrants who are 
busy studying for exams should simply be left alone. That's not just my 
opinion or just the opinion of immigrants or advocates or 104 of my 
colleagues.
  Despite those few who would like to sue the President and force him 
to kick high school kids out of this country, President Obama's 
actually legally and responsibly using prosecutorial discretion to 
leave young people alone and focus instead on actual criminals.

                              {time}  1020

  It is the consensus legal opinion among experts. Even the Supreme 
Court has weighed in. In their Arizona decision last month, the Supreme 
Court wrote:
  A principal feature of the removal system is the broad discretion 
exercised by immigration officials. Federal officials, as an initial 
matter, must decide whether it makes sense to pursue removal at all.
  ``Whether it makes sense to pursue removal at all,'' says the Supreme 
Court.
  If the Supreme Court's opinion is not enough, then I submit the 
opinions of Members of Congress, including those of Members I don't 
often agree with when it comes to immigration. These Members include 
Lamar Smith, the chairman of our Judiciary Committee; David Dreier, 
chairman of the Rules Committee; and even Brian Bilbray, chairman of 
the House anti-immigration caucus.
  Just a few years ago, as this letter notes, they weighed in 
forcefully on prosecutorial discretion. In a letter to a previous 
President's administration, these staunch opponents of immigration 
reform enthusiastically defended prosecutorial discretion, writing: 
``The principle of prosecutorial discretion is well established.'' They 
wrote that legal experts at Immigration Services ``apparently well-
grounded in case law'' show that the Immigration Services has 
prosecutorial discretion in the initiation--the beginning--and the 
termination of deportations.
  It's simple, really. The Members of Congress who signed this letter 
with me today, the Supreme Court, President Obama--and yes, even Lamar 
Smith and dozens of his colleagues just a few years ago--get it. It is 
time to leave hardworking immigrants alone. When we do, our law 
enforcement officials can focus on catching the actual bad guys.
                                                    July 18, 2012.
     President Barack Obama,
     The White House, Pennsylvania Avenue,
     Washington, DC
       Dear Mr. President: We write to thank you and express our 
     appreciation for your recent decision to grant ``deferred 
     action,'' protection from deportation, and work permits to 
     certain young people who call the United States home and who 
     are not an enforcement priority for the Department of 
     Homeland Security (DHS).
       We welcome the opportunity to ensure that our constituents 
     who fit the criteria for relief are among the estimated 
     800,000 individuals whose lives will forever be changed as a 
     result of your leadership. DREAMers coming forward to apply 
     will mark a new chapter, but not the last chapter, in a long 
     struggle for inclusion in society. The new policy represents 
     an important down payment toward achieving broader reforms in 
     the future.
       The implications of your policy are already reverberating 
     well beyond those who are potentially eligible for deferred 
     action. With this announcement, you have changed the public 
     discourse about immigration and immigrants, and our 
     communities are now excited and hopeful. Even those who 
     attack immigrants for political purposes are second guessing 
     their negative posture toward the young immigrants you are 
     protecting. You have opened the door to reform, and people of 
     all political stripes recognize that change is coming and is 
     inevitable.
       We recognize that there are those who will want to take the 
     power of discretion away from you and the Executive branch. 
     Like you, we agree that you are on solid moral and legal 
     ground and we will do everything within our power to defend 
     your actions and the authority that you, like past 
     Presidents, can exercise to set enforcement priorities and 
     better protect our neighborhoods and our nation.
       Despite this vital reprieve for a deserving group of 
     promising individuals, we also understand that it does not 
     diminish the need for a permanent solution and comprehensive 
     immigration reform. Mr. President, we stand committed to 
     fixing the broken immigration system once and for all, and we 
     are ready to fight for a permanent solution that benefits all 
     children and families, the economy, our national security and 
     our nation.
       We thank you again for your actions on behalf of DREAMers. 
     We stand ready to work with you to ensure the policy's 
     success and to use it as a stepping stone for broader relief 
     and future legislative action.
           Sincerely,
         Luis V. Gutierrez; Joseph Crowley, Xavier Becerra; Steny 
           Hoyer; Howard

[[Page H5016]]

           Berman; Charles A. Gonzalez; Jared Polis; Susan A. 
           Davis; Zoe Lofgren; Judy Chu; Nancy Pelosi; John 
           Conyers, Jr.; Lucille Roybal-Allard; Michael M. Honda; 
           Barbara Lee; Gene Green; Raul Grijalva; James P. Moran; 
           Eleanor Holmes Norton; Bill Pascrell, Jr.; Janice Hahn; 
           Peter Welch; Jose E. Serrano; Betty McCollum; Ruben 
           Hinojosa; Lois Capps; Yvette D. Clarke; Laura 
           Richardson; Silvestre Reyes; Hansen Clarke; Terri 
           Sewell; Jerrold Nadler; Bob Filner; Dennis Cardoza; 
           Frederica Wilson; Charles B. Rangel; Edolphus ``Ed'' 
           Towns; Jan Schakowsky; Jackie Speier; Gregorio Kilili 
           Camacho Sablan; Maxine Waters; Bobby L. Rush; Pedro R. 
           Pierluisi; Carolyn B. Maloney; Gwen Moore; Louise M. 
           Saughter; Ted Deutch; Chaka Fattah; Rick Larsen; Jim 
           McDermott; George Miller; Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, 
           Jr.; John Lewis; John W. Olver; James P. McGovern; Joe 
           Baca; Rush Holt; Robert A. Brady; Eni Faleomavaega; 
           Adam Smith; Al Green; Grace F. Napolitano; Earl 
           Blumenauer; John Garamendi; John B. Larson; Jesse L. 
           Jackson, Jr.; Doris O. Matsui; Keith Ellison; Fortney 
           ``Pete'' Stark; Dennis J. Kucinich; Lloyd Doggett; 
           Corrine Brown; Linda Sanchez; Gregory Meeks; Sam Farr; 
           Gary C. Peters; Eliot L. Engel; Lynn Woolsey; Ed 
           Pastor; Maurice Hinchey; Albio Sires; Mike Quigley; 
           Loretta Sanchez; Danny K. Davis; Nita Lowey; Mike 
           Thompson; Anna Eshoo; Marcy Kaptur; David Cicilline; 
           Russ Carnahan; Nydia M. Valazquez; Chris Van Hollen; 
           Steve Israel; Diana DeGette; Edward J. Markey; Henry A. 
           Waxman; Karen Bass; Jim Costa; Steve Cohen; Henry 
           Cuellar; Barney Frank; Ben Ray Lujan; Sheila Jackson 
           Lee; Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott.

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